May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed in New York after stalling yesterday at a one-week high on speculation fuel prices may fall as U.S. refiners increase gasoline production to bolster summer stockpiles.

Gasoline declined for the first day in five yesterday after reaching a two-week high of $2.3744 a gallon. An Energy Department report tomorrow may show stockpiles of the fuel rose for a second week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of 12 analysts. OPEC nations should increase output to make up for lost Nigerian production, a department official said yesterday.

``Gasoline inventories are expected to rise although they're not likely to get back to the average in time for Memorial Day,'' said Makoto Takeda, an energy analyst at Bansei Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Prices have risen as force majeure in Nigeria stopped output of crude oil with high-yielding gasoline at a time when demand is rising.''

Crude oil for June delivery was at $62.64 a barrel, up 18 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:47 p.m. in Singapore.

The contract rose 9 cents to $62.46 yesterday, the highest close since May 3. Prices are 14 percent lower than a year ago.

Gasoline stockpiles in the U.S., the world's largest oil consumer, held 193.5 million barrels on May 4, or 8 percent below the five-year average for the period. Inventories probably gained 1 million barrels last week as refiners increased production after maintenance, according to the survey.

``People are saying that the refineries are going to catch up and that they're going to get OPEC to pump more crude,'' said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures Inc. in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil Supplies

In London, Brent crude oil for June settlement was at $67 a barrel, up 17 cents, in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange at 12:27 p.m. Singapore time. The contract expires tomorrow. The more active July future was at $67.42, up 14 cents.

Oil supplies probably increased by 125,000 barrels, the fourth weekly gain, according to the survey. Stockpiles held 341.2 million barrels a week earlier, 6.4 percent more than the five-year average.

Gasoline for June delivery was at $2.29 a gallon, down 1.12 cents, after falling 2.2 percent to $2.3012 yesterday.

U.S. motor-fuel demand usually peaks between June and August as summer vacations increase car travel.

Tight supplies and rising demand will ensure gasoline gets to at least $2.40 a gallon this summer, Excel's Waggoner said. Oil prices are also headed higher, and the June contract in New York will rise this week as it nears its May 22 expiry, he said.

The more widely held July oil contract was at $63.91 a barrel, after falling 23 cents to $63.89 yesterday.

OPEC, Nigeria

OPEC, which supplies more than 40 percent of the world's oil, should increase production before the group's September meeting to make up for lost exports from Nigeria and prepare for winter demand, Guy Caruso, who heads the Energy Department's statistical arm, told reporters in Washington yesterday.

World markets are ``well supplied'' and OPEC won't meet before September, group president Mohamed al-Hamli said May 2.

Around 816,000 barrels of oil production a day has been halted in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, because of civil strife, said the International Energy Agency in its May 11 Oil Market Report.

Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. oil company, said yesterday it will take several days to restore full output from Nigerian fields connected to a facility that was seized by villagers a week ago. The company shut 42,000 barrels of daily oil production at four fields in Nigeria's Delta state on May 7 after villagers overran the Abiteye flow station, a nexus of onshore pipelines.

Eni SpA, Italy's biggest oil company, said on May 9 it declared force majeure for production at the Brass crude export terminal in Nigeria as output fell by 98,000 barrels a day after pipelines were attacked by armed militants. Force majeure is a legal step that protects a company from liability if it can't fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.

To contact the reporters on this story: Hector Forster in Tokyo at hforster@bloomberg.net; Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 15, 2007 01:49 EDT